Design History II: 1945-Present

After WWII, the climate of political movements shifted to an acceptance of mass production and advertising. There was also an increased interest in designing mass produced products.

The Emergence of "graphic design"

Post-war communication design was understood as graphic design for advertising. During the 1950’s, the American advertising industry was concentrated in New York on Madison Avenue where they were known for big expense accounts, afternoon Martinis and “big ideas,” similar to the television show Mad Men. Those agencies are now mostly owned by international corporations such as Omnicon (owns BBDO, TBWA others), WPP (owns Olgivy & Mather, Young & Rubicam, others) Interpublic (McCann Ericson), Publicis France (Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett) and many more. Many designers were also located in Los Angeles where there was a strong community of graphic and product designers mixing with architects.

Born in France in 1893, Raymond Loewy is one of the best known industrial and product designers. He came to New York in the 1920’s and did window designs for Sak’s and Macys, and illustrated for Vogue and Bazaar. He was eventually hired as a design consultant on trains, cars and their logos. He also designed refrigerators, IBM parts, postage stamps, the Air France Concorde interior, NASA’s skylab space station, the Coca-Cola re-design bottle, the Lucky Strike re-designed box, the Zippo lighter, the Exxon, Shell, TWA, Nabisco, Canada Dry, US Coast Guard and US Postal System logos. He was in many ways the first celebrity designer known as a household name. He was friends with Kirk Douglas, Bob Hope, Martin Scorsese and others in Hollywood.

Raymond Lowey, Studebaker Avanti, 1963

The mid-century communication design aesthetic was influenced by the Bauhaus school which was re-started in Chicago by artist László Moholy-Nagy. Top designers were often trying to continue the Bauhaus ideals. Designer Paul Rand continued applying the Bauhaus principles until his death in 1996. He designed the logos of IBM, ABC, UPS, Ford and others.

Paul Rand, IBM, 1956

Vertigo, 1958

Also important to communication design is the role of text and film. Saul Bass was an LA based designer who provided legendary title sequences for Hitchcock and Scorsese, along with classic logos such as AT&T and United Way. You can learn the story of any logo here.

Another important part of mid-century communication design is the typeface Helvetica which was created in Switzerland in 1957 by designers MaxMiedinger and Eduard Hoffman called the International Style.

Charles and Ray Eames were married designers who came to prominence in Los Angeles in the 1950’s. They are best known for their furniture designs, primarily created for Herman Miller. The Eames were very process and educationally oriented and kept records of all the stages of design. They experimented in photography and film shorts. There best known film short was “Powers of Ten,” created for IBM in 1968-77. They had a large office in Venice, California where in a collaborative style style with many designers. The Eames Lounge and Ottoman (1956) is one product of the office. Released in 1956 on television, see it here.

Charles and Ray Eames

Eames Lounge, 1956

Wava Carpenter sets the context for the Eames Lounge. It appeared in an era when design was simply understood for commercial advertisements. The critics who were leading the design field established the emphasis onpost-industrial modern designs, over the hand made look. Charles Eames fit the expectation perfectly because he considered himself an architect of furniture emphasizing simple forms. The lounge used existing modernist aspects, such as curved plywood, but if offer luxury in the plush leather cushion, not achieved by most reductive designs. The leather set a high price point for the chair which meant it was an everyday object for the affluent. This is part led to its preservation. Thomas Hine called the post war boom in these types of goods “Populuxe.” The contrast was the Barcalounger, an everyday Lazy boy recliner that filled ordinary homes and received no awards. One explanation is given in terms of architecture, that it is not in the creation that something is a good design but in the years following through respect and preservation. The Eames Lounge has remained the same since its creation, still sold as is by Herman Miller.

Eames House, 1949

A contextual aspect for Charles and Ray Eames is the larger environmental design movement in Los Angeles at the time. From 1946-1966 Art & Architecture magazine commissioned architects to design inexpensive, progressive homes in Los Angeles and San Francisco and one in Arizona. A little over 30 designs called “Case Study Houses” were created by Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig and EeroSaarinen. Neutra is considered by many as the leader of the mid-century modern house design in Los Angeles. He was an Austrian architect who had studied under Frank Lloyd Wright. But the most famous case study house is the Stahl house documented by photographer Julius Schulman. Koenig designed the Stahl house and one other, both on dramatic high points and both used frequently in film. Another essential home to Los Angeles design is the Chemosphere house. It is located just off Mulholland drive and occupied by theTaschens of book fame. The house was not a case study but simply an innovative creation by John Lautner. The house is on a high pole that actually functions to reduce earthquake impact. Lautner also studied under Wright.

Pierre Koenig, Stahl House, 1960, photo by Juilus Shulman

John Lautner, Chemosphere house, 1960

Space age influences in design: The race to the moon by 1969 had a lot of designers fascinated with the materials and concepts of outer space. The style is seen in architecture, communication and especially fashion.

Barbarella, 1968

The Establishment of Fashion Design

The actual origin of fashion design is given to Charles Frederick Worth, a draper, was the first person to use a label in his custom tailored clothes in 1858. The idea of making labeled ready to wear clothing for the mass market did not peak however until after World War II. Before World War II, designers were creating haute couture for wealthy clients while poorer people made their own clothes or bought a limited number of pre-made designs. Some of the very first designers to go from haute couture to ready to wear were French. Coco Chanel is a widely known, very important early fashion designer in part because she herself was a seamstress turned designer. Chanel worked mainly from the mid-1920’s through World War II then left Paris returning to Paris after the war receiving mainly American fame and brand recognition.

Chanel, Douglas Kirkland, 1962

In post-war Paris, Christian Dior debuted his collection in 1947, Harper’s Bazaar called it the “new look,” due to the increased use of fabric and curving.

Christian Dior anniversary of the "new look," 1957

Givenchy is another designer who continued the French leadership of fashion through the 1960’s. Givenchy’s clothes were worn by celebrities such as Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis which made them more popular. It was also the period in which patterns began to bring design to everyday people.

Outside of France, was Spanish designer Balenciaga who emphasized sleek lines and was not concerned about the fitted waist, leading to the loose tunic dress in 1951. Italy was also important to the European fashion scene. Emilio Pucci began by designing clothes for a ski racing team and eventually for all leisure. Both Prada and Gucci began in Italy in 20th century by providing leather goods and accessories and became more involved in the turnover of style by the early 1980’s.

Puccu, Late 60's

By the 1960’s young designers were emerging such as Yves-Saint Laurent who was in prominence by 1965. Italian born French designer Pierre Cardin and AndreCourrèges are two mid to late 1960’s talents who designed not only fashion but other products. Cardin extended his skills to car interiors and accessories. Courrèges created a progressive car called a Zooopin 1969.Courrèges is sometimes consider the inventor of the mini skirt but that credit normally goes to Mary Quantand Ossie Clark represent the English trends of the 1960’s which celebrated female freedom. Clark for his flamboyance. Also known for flamboyance is the Spanish designer Paco Rabanne.

Andre Courrèges, 1967

Paco Rabanne, 1967

In the late 1960's, young Americans were turning from conventional ways of doing things, which was also the case in design. The 1969 film "Putney Swope" written and directed by Robert Downey Sr. showed a man taking over an advertising company with indulgent practices. The film was a sign of the times and the changes in communication design.

Milton Glaser is an example of someone who broke with conventional expectations for brand design. He is also known for a legendary Bob Dylan poster design.

Milton Glaser, New York campaign, 1977

Postmodernism and Deconstruction

Jean-François Lyotard was a French philosopher who described the society of the 1970’s as demonstrating “postmodernism,” that is after mass production we have a society abundant with products and meanings that lead to references calledintertextuality. This happens when culture is self-referential. It includes the referencing of cultures, identities (particularly celebrities) and the ironic and absurd aspect of multi-media contemporary culture (think of the Simpsons).

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher who announced the idea of “descontruction.” It is normally applied to text but also describes the design process of breaking down conventions and normal boundaries. The CranbrookAcademy directly applied deconstruction to communication design.

Postmodern design borrowed existing imagery, a process called appropriation.

Peter Saville for New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies Album 1983 borrows a baroque painting

Deconstruction was a process of deforming and reforming the text.

Wolfgang Weingart’s New Wave Typography, mid 1970’s

Sex Pistols album re-designed by Jamie Reid, 2001

Computer Aided Design

Rob Janoff, Apple logo and Macintosh Bitmap fonts

Book Design

With David Carson's The End of Print, books seemed to be over but they continue as more precious objects.

David Carson, The End of Print, 1995

Bruce Mau designer of S,M,L,XL, 1997

90's Fashion Design

Designer Donna Karan is American "brand-fashion"

Postmodern Fashion Design

Jeremy Scott, Spring 2007

Deconstruction in Fashion Design

Comme de Garcons, Spring 2009

Postmodern Retail and Product Design

By the 1990's, there is an expansion of retail flag ship store environments and new innovations in object design for the home that continue the postmodern aesthetic.

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Marcel Wanders, Villa Moda, Bahrain, 2009